THE SAND CHRONICLES, CHAPTER 12
Since she had conscious, she received praise after praise, dozens of people only lived around her to serve her, and according to her parents, Lord and Leidy Taiyō, she was the chosen one, and the future kept great things in-store for her.
From a very young age, she showed great potential for medical ninjutsu, which was quite sought after in her village, due to the wars that occurred in those times. She even had to risk her life to go to the front of the battlefield and heal her compatriots, forming a team for a few days, with the Third Lord Kazekage. She was barely twelve years old when all that happened, if they had asked her what she felt at that moment, she would never say that she felt afraid, because she did not feel it, but her heart felt a whole explosion of emotions, she lived around death, she experienced what was the feeling of killing someone in self-defense, and anger flooded her when she could not help, when they arrived too late and only found cold corpses everywhere, but without a doubt, something that marked her forever, was to meet him.
She never thought that, that being would make her change the way she saw life, and would make her do things she would regret later. She wished that all that would have been just a nightmare and that her eyes would soon awaken from that gloomy reality.
"Daena, wake-up, the baby is crying!" Expressed a masculine voice, while he entered in a hasty form to the room.
And certainly, the cries of a newborn flooded the place, while her mother, Daena-sama, the recent leader of the Taiyō, was standing in front of the huge window that illuminated her ostentatious dwelling, with the lost look towards the outside, as if trying to find the solution to her problems with it.
"Oh, it's you dear husband ..." She barely said, turning her gaze to him for a few seconds, then returning to her initial pose.
"Of course, it's me! Why do you let our little girl cry so disconsolately?" The somewhat annoyed man demanded, as he made his way to the cradle from which the weeping came.
Then the man took, who was someone quite beautiful, with long black hair and with deep and hypnotizing eyes, the same color, took action. He took the weeping girl in his arms and began to lull her to calm down.
"She just wants to get attention," Daena said coldly, as she walked toward the tea table in the room.
"Maybe so, but there must be other reasons too, she must be hungry or maybe she needs a diaper change," said the husband, who, without disgust and in a paternal act, checked the diaper of the little girl. "Weird, you're clean, and you don't seem hungry." He put on a worried face.
"I told you, just look for attention, the servants already took care of feeding her and taking care of her needs," said the Taiyō without emotion, as she poured herself a steaming cup of tea and sat in one of the two chairs that were available around the small table.
"Mmm ... I guess you're right," he admitted. "But isn't she a beautiful little thing? She deserves all the attention she wants to receive. Don't you think?" He said in a tenderly voice, as he spread the baby in front of him, while he grabbed her gently. For her part, the little blonde had stopped crying and with her eyes looked tenderly at her protector.
But to Daena, the last thing she wanted, was to talk or pay attention to that child.
"And how did you do on this mission? I was so worried..."
"Ah, it was somewhat complicated ... But it's not worth talking about it now. I'm here, right? Let's talk about our beloved daughter, she was barely a day old when I left, and look at her now, it's a few days before her first month, she has grown a lot," said her husband excitedly, while still holding the little girl in his arms. He sat in the free chair that was next to the tea table, to be with his wife.
"Hmm, if that's what you want to talk about, I'll listen to you," she answered dryly.
"By the way, I feel very bad for not knowing the name of my own daughter. Which of all the names we chose together, did you decide at the end?" He asked enthusiastically, as he looked at her, this time, tenderly.
The truth was that Daena, in his absence, the least she had done, was to have spent time with her own daughter, much less to have thought about her name.
"Ah ... Etto ... well ... I preferred to wait for you to arrive, that way we could choose it together," she lied, while she lowered her head and put a false blush, to hide her disinterest.
"I see, although you shouldn't have done that, our little girl, like any other beloved baby, deserved to be baptized with a proper name, preferably in her first three days of life," the brunette said, making a face of a tantrum as if he were a child , and hugged his baby like a very delicate stuffed animal.
"I'm sorry, I didn't think that would bother you ..." Daena turned her gaze to the opposite side, it made her want to laugh at the childish and funny attitude that her husband had taken.
"Well, what can se do, let's decide her name now, I will not let another day pass for my little one to live in anonymity," he got up from his chair, and stood in front of the window of the room, making the afternoon sun illuminate them, highlighting the difference of colors that their hair had.
"What do you think of Agatha?" The Taiyō suggested, still sitting, sipping the contents of her cup.
"Sounds nice, but doesn't express everything she is," said the brunette, in rejection.
"Blonde?"
"No, it's too common..."
"Tangela?"
"Hum ... no."
"Priya?"
"I like it, but it does not identify her completely, apart from pretty, I am sure that our little one will be the rude girl who will kick every person who crosses her path."
"You're not suggesting we call her the same as me, right?" Frowned the Taiyō mother.
"Of course not," her husband said. "Your name is very long, and even a little ugly, if you start to analyze what it means. Honestly, I don't know what my in-laws were thinking, when they baptized you with such a name ..."
"Well, sorry for having such an ugly name, that does not meet your expectations of "indicated,"" said with annoyance, Daena. She rose quickly from her place, going to the door, with the clear intention of leaving.
But before opening the door, he gave one last look to her husband and daughter. She was hypnotized by what her eyes witnessed.
From that angle, she could see how the generous sun god, illuminated the previously mentioned, making their hair shine in a beautiful way. A breeze coming from the outside garden, entered through the open window, bringing with it some leaves that flooded the place.
She covered her face, to prevent something from reaching her eyes. When she opened them again, she could see that her family was still standing in the same place and that they were staring at her.
"Look, little one, your mother is afraid of a little wind," her husband laughed jovially, as he began to remove the dry leaves that had settled both on his head and on that of his wavy blond daughter.
"Stop mocking me, I'm not afraid of the wind, I just hate mess," Daena said, as she approached him, to remove the tangled leaf behind his hair.
He stopped laughing, not because of his wife's complaint or approach, but because he had found something striking in his daughter's golden hair.
"A golden feather ..." the brunette murmured, slowly removing the feather.
"It must be one of the exotic birds that walk around the gardens," his wife said, taking that object from his hands and examining it seriously.
"There are no birds with golden plumage, at least not in our gardens," he said. "Unless ... this feather belongs to Iderum, Ra's faithful pet."
"Please, the phoenixes don't exist, and if they ever existed, it's more than clear that they went extinct," Daena said indifferently, as she headed for the exit, feather in hand.
"Anngelius ... that will be your name, my little future bully," expressed with emotion her father, while he lifted her upwards, making the infant open her sleepy eyes.
Daena, although she was totally ignored by the last thing she had said, could not help but show curiosity about that strange name.
"Anngelius? Why that suggestion?" She asked confused.
"Well ... our daughter is similar to that phoenix bird that they talk so much about in storybooks, almost nobody thinks it exists, but nevertheless, most likely, she lives among us, without us noticing ..."
"I don't see a connection, I think you're delirious," his wife said skeptically.
"Okay, maybe I'm just making this up, but ... seeing that feather in her hair, I got the impression that I was holding a little angel in my hands ..."
"The plumage of the angels is white, not golden. In addition, the latter really existed, fossils were found that prove that in ancient times they lived on earth and-"
"I know, I know ... but angels other than beautiful, were strong and temperamental, right?"
"Well ... that's how they are described in the old found manuscripts, but it's not something that can be proven beyond that ..."
"You know, we better stop arguing about that matter and let her decide what she wants to call herself," the man offered as a solution, as he put his daughter in front of her.
"That is incoherent in itself, she is not aware of anything specific ..."
"Hey, you should not underestimate our daughter, let's see, try to call her with those names you suggested, if she reacts to any, it's because she likes it..."
It seemed silly to Daena, but she wanted to get over with the name business. She started calling her with all the names she had previously mentioned, but there was no reaction from the baby.
It was then that they changed roles, Daena being the one who grabbed her daughter and her husband began to call her.
"Anngelius, come, come with dad ..."
The little blonde thing reacted almost instantly, fixing her faint and premature gaze on her father, while she opened her mouth showing a small and chimney smile.
The Taiyō leader showed a slight astonishment, it was the first time she had seen that expression on her daughter.
"Oh look! She likes the name I chose for her," her father said happily, as he took Anngelius from her arms and began to laugh happily with her, holding her with one of his hands.
"Okay, you were right, you won. Now I have to go to some clan business," she said in a calm tone, shedding the embrace her husband gave her. "If you want stay with "Anngelius" until the servants who care for her arrive, they won't take long to arrive..."
"Hum, in fact, tell them not to show up, I want to recover all the father-daughter time that we lost, I'll take care of her, during all the days that come, until my rest is over ..." Declared the brunette while continuing to turn as he hugged his toothless daughter.
"As you wish, well see you later then," said Daena, unable to avoid showing a slight smile at such a scene.
"See you later, honey. Say good-bye to Mommy, Anngelius," he blurted out, grabbing his daughter's hand and waving it in farewell.
It was a beautiful and perfect scene, which Daena could never see again.
The thump woke her from her sleep. The people who had carried her, after being sealed in that sand statue, had thrown her to the ground with brusqueness.
Why? Why do I have to start remembering the past right now? Anngelius ... How were you able to betray your dear mother? You will taste my anger as soon as I manage to get out of this place ... Draco ... my little one, are you okay?
There was an explosion nearby, the voices of screaming women, while some ninjas began to order an evacuation. Among all the chaos, they forgot to close the gate of the cell where she was.
She did not know what was happening, but she could not help thinking that luck was in her favor, again.
* ~ * ~ ... * ~ * ~
He had stopped the blow with one of his hands, barely exchanged a few words with his adversary, the clone, who showed a wicked smile on his face.
A horrible sensation flooded him inside, it was like looking in a mirror.
The clone recoiled, because Gaara's defensive sand was starting to bother him.
"What's wrong? It seems as if you had seen a ghost," Ann said, addressing the redhead, while still standing a few meters away.
The remaining fourteen shadows were placed behind the clone that had dared to attack the Kazekage.
Behind the false Gaara, were Temari, Kankurō and the twelve leaders who had attended the meeting a few weeks ago.
All were identical to their originals, but they wore the Taiyōs' characteristic dress. Which was a golden unique design. With the symbol of the flaming Sun on their backs.
Gaara began to gather a sand shield around him, it would not be easy to face against fifteen beings at once, not counting Ann, who would try to escape.
"Easy Kazekage, they do not intend to fight with you," Ann announced, resuming her step at a slow pace. "Their goal is another ..."
The clones smiled at the words of the person who had invoked them, it seems that this was the signal for their actions.
They all started running north, leaving only the clone of the Kazekage.
"That direction ... perhaps they intend to attack ..." Gaara murmured, causing concern to flood his face.
"Yes, the clones will attack the village that you have tried so zealously to protect all these years, all its inhabitants will not have the happiness of seeing a new sunrise, since this will be their last night..." Uttered indifferently the Taiyo. "Maybe, this will be the last time I'll have to see you face Kazekage. Goodbye.
He started to run towards the bottom of that desert peninsula that went into the sea, still with her brother on her back.
Gaara tried to create a barrier to prevent her from continuing, but was interrupted by the clone.
"Your opponent here is me, just in case you manage to beat me, you can go after Ann-sama," expressed his false self, with mockery, "although the chances of that happening are almost nil..."
"I do not have time to play with a crude imitation of mine. A copy can never win the original," the Kazekage declared, attacking him without compassion, throwing a dense rain of hail at his opponent.
The latter did not make the least attempt to protect himself and he received the attack directly, causing his body to be stamped on the ground.
Gaara continued to attack him, and then cover him with his "sand coffin" attack, causing him to dictate along with it.
"I can not believe that I come from such a silly boy," said the clone, appearing behind the redhead, resting his hand on his shoulder.
The Kazekage reacted almost simultaneously, jumping away, trying to keep distance. He already knew that there was a probability that his clone would have the ability to manipulate the sand as well as him. But he had to find out to what level his control came with that element.
"You know, I really don't want to fight with you, but I must buy time for Ann-sama to escape. Wouldn't it be better if you go behind the other clones and protect that village that you love so much?" The clone pointed, while opting for a carefree pose and holding a hand to the back of his neck. His face reflected laziness.
"It's so discreditable and unpleasant to see a lazy expression in oneself; As my clone, I thought you would be a worthy opponent, but it seems I was wrong," the Kazekage said severely, showing disappointment in his face.
"Well, sorry for disappoint you, "Mr. perfection,"" said sarcastically, the clone, "and by the way, I have a proper name with which my creator baptized me." He put a serious expression on his face. "Call me, Gaatwo," He finished.
"Gaatwo? What a strange name," the redhead said a little surprised.
"My name is a derivation of yours idiot, if mine is strange, yours is weird," Gaatwo said annoyed, at the words of the Kazekage.
For some reason Gaara felt for a few seconds that he was having an argument with Kankurō, no doubt the scene was somewhat ironic.
"Okay, I did not want to get to this, but I changed my mind," Gaatwo, took out a huge sword from a parchment he was carrying. "I guess you know who this object belongs to, and for sure it's not the first time that its edge will be pointed towards you."
"Maybe," the redhead said dryly.
Then Gaatwo, the clone, rushed towards him, wielding his sword in a rather aggressive way. Gaara eluded him with agility; Due to the assimilation that his opponent had with the sand, the latter did not bother to use it to protect himself. Kenjutsu was not his specialty, but the basic wisdom was to not fall prey to this kind of attack.
"Don't think you'll last long, if you just dodge me and keep your distance, Kazekage," Gaatwo warned, as he moved quickly toward him.
Standing a few inches away, he disappeared before the eyes of the redhead.
Gaara began to trace his location through the sand, when two hands pulled him to the ground, and then sent him flying through the air, that's when Gaatwo reappeared, he would take advantage of the disadvantage they had to be far from the ground, to inflict damage using kenjutsu.
In the air it was not easy to dodge attacks, but that did not mean it was impossible, the sound produced by the sword when hitting the wind, was a good guide to anticipate the attacks, but if you did not have quick reflexes, it would be useless to foresee the movements.
The last attack happened past of his head, he could see how his hair disappeared in the wind, after being hit by the edge of the sword.
They returned to touch earth, and that is because gravity was not anyone's friend, everything that went up, sooner or later had to come down, one way or another.
They fell on their feet, several meters away from each other.
"I must admit that you have good reflexes, this practice is enough for me to finish my warm-up. What if this time we fight seriously?" Expressed the clone while putting away his sword and opted for a combat pose.
Gaara looked at him with acceptance, although he had not lost track of his main objective, he had to accept that he had not had a confrontation that forced him to show his full potential, and this would be a good opportunity to "deoxidize" a bit.
"It seems alright to me, but I hope you don't harbor the false illusion that you will be able to defeat me," said the Kazekage, as he launched the attack, at the same time as his clone.
With that the two began a fight with pure and clean taijutsu.
* ~ * ~ * ... * ~ * ~
Kankurō and Temari had just given instructions to reinforce the protection of the village, just as they were reorganizing to reinforce their younger brother, they heard an explosion at the south gate, where the barrier was broken and fourteen individuals tried to enter to the city.
The older siblings of the sand, did not take long to get to the place, but were not prepared to see what their eyes would show them. The clones of both, were the leaders, all dressed in the golden robe symbol of the Taiyō Clan.
"What's wrong real me? Cat eat your tongue? Or is it that you are just like that because you saw me? Wow, what a sensitive little woman you came to be," expressed in a tone of mockery, the clone of Temari.
"It's definitely identical to you, I think the world is not prepared to have two equally troublesome women," said Shikamaru, who appeared next. "But, don't worry, the Kazekage foresaw that this could happen, and gave me the sensible task of gathering our reinforcements..."
And behind him, appeared the twelve leaders of clans, all with a serious conviction, ready for what they had to face.
"Then this will be one against one, you know, do not allow yourself to be defeated by a copy of yourselves," added Kankurō, who was a little more confident, while directly taking out his most powerful puppet: Sasori.
"Remember, we must avoid even the minimum damage to the village, try to get the clones back and fight in the desert," said Temari, who also put herself in attack position and pulled out her big fan from her back.
The two sides began to run, facing the imminent confrontation.
Everything would be decided that night, the fate of the Village was at stake.
In one of the cells abandoned do to the attack of the clones, the seal of sand had just cracked completely, leaving its prisoner free.
Which side would Daena, the leader of the Taiyō take?
Of everything that was happening, her actions were the most uncertain.
End of the chapter.
NOTE: This chapter, like the previous one, contains a new image. As the FF platform does not allow uploading images in the chapters, you can see it on my facebook page WonderlandEi in images / albums / TheSandChronicles.
Translator's Note:
The original name given by the author to Gaara's clone is Gaados, which translates to Gaatwo. Usually names don't translate but in this case I chose to do it do to the comical appeal, and after receiving permission from the author.